Where are they going?; Ryan LaVanchy
Football star Ryan LaVanchy prepares for the next big step in his life!
With graduation a mere two weeks away, seniors finalize their plans for after high school, and prepare to take the next big step in their lives.
Senior and football star Ryan LaVanchy informs The Mav that after high school, he will be attending Wheaton College. While attending Wheaton College, LaVanchy will continue his football career as a member of their team, and plans to pursue a degree in kinesiology.
Although Ryan LaVanchy has lived in Colorado for his whole life and has loved his time at Mead, he looks forward to attending Wheaton in Chicago, Illinois. He is extremely excited to see and experience a new setting of his life. “Playing college football has always been a dream [of LaVanchy’s], and being able to play [for Wheaton] is a dream come true.”
LaVanchy is looking forward to pursuing an education in kinesiology, and being apart of the applied science department at Wheaton. After earning his degree in kinesiology, LaVanchy plans to continue his education and obtain a degree in physical therapy to one day become a general physical therapy practitioner.
Reminicizing on the past four years, LaVanchy shares that his favorite high school memory was “beating Palisade in the quarterfinals of the playoffs,” this past year. For LaVanchy, “playing football for Mead was one of the greatest decisions [he has] ever made.”
Where are they going?: Will Oster
A look into the after-highschool plans of senior Will Oster
Graduation is a large dam. Slowly creaking and cracking, it grows weaker and weaker, until, all at once, a staggering tidal wave of icy cold anticipation comes bursting, crashing through that crust of a wall, splashing and sputtering over boulders, trees, innocent townspeople, and buildings. The seniors of Mead High School grow in pressure, slowly pushing at their dam. Look closely. Cracks are beginning their long winding path across the cement barrier of May 25th. It’s coming. Will Oster the water droplet shared his plans to demolish the unsuspecting town sitting in the shadow of the Mead dam.
After high school, Oster plans to attend Front Range Community College (FRCC) at the Westminster location for two years. He plans to get his prerequisites specifically in nursing, and then decide on a school depending on which ones will accept his credits. “…what’s good about FRCC is that I think, like the majority of their credits transfer almost to every single Colorado school,” Will said.
It seems like most seniors are excited but nervous to get out into the real world. Oster is no exception, but he shared that he welcomes the scary change as a part of life: “So the move a couple of years from now… I’ll probably be really nervous. But I think there just comes a point in life where there’s just a huge transition. We’re all kind of in that right now. So I’d be nervous, but I’d be welcome to the change. Because, ya know, change is good.”
Along with the nervousness, however, also comes excitement. “I guess I’m most excited to learn, I guess, about myself and about what really interests me,” Oster remarked. He’s still trying to narrow down which specific job path he wants to pursue. For a while, he’s been jumping from career plan to career plan – from politician, to lawyer, and finally nursing. “…I think the common theme with all of that is that I just really wanted to help people, and just, ya know, do something good for everybody…”
Oster’s favorite high school memory is band camp this year as a senior. It was his first year as a drum major, and although he was nervous at first, he rose to the challenge and began to see the band kids as more of a family.
Brooks Upham is a senior at Mead High School. Some of his hobbies include playing piano, balancing rocks, rollerblading, and taking photos. He hopes to expand his knowledge of journalism and his role on the Mead High School Journalism Staff.
You can contact him at upham.brooks20@svvsd.org